The Aftermath of the Choice
by AzuraFates
Summary: When given three choices, Corrin create a fourth choice that no one ever considered a possibility, not even Corrin herself if she had been in the right frame of mind.
1. Chapter 1

"Come to Hoshido, Corrin!" Ryoma yelled.

"No, Corrin! Nohr is your home!" Xander yelled in response.

"This way." Ryoma said strongly as he held out his hand to Corrin.

"B-big sister" Sakura stammered.

"She's my sister!" Elise yelled at the girl.

"We're your family." Xander said, matching Romans tone as he also held out his hand to his beloved sister.

"My family." Corrin mumbled. Corrin's head was spinning from the death of her true mother, the knowledge of her history and bloodline, and the war in front of her. Her siblings, both by birth and adoption were calling for her to join a fight to kill the other family as their armies were fighting each other. People who didn't even know her were fighting to death over her. People were killing and being killed for her. She couldn't take it.

"Corrin?" Camilla asked softly. She noticed Corrin distress. "Darling, please, it's okay."

"No!" Corrin screamed. Camilla was shocked. Tears fell from Corrin's face. "Stop this fighting, NOW!" Everyone on the battlefield froze, Azura made herself apparent by appearing by Corrin side. "I will not be the cause of a war between kingdoms. I will not be the reason people die or murder. If this is what choosing a path leads to then…" Corrin's sword hand twitched as it rested on the Yato.

"Corrin, don't do this." Azura said. She reached out for Corrin.

"Get back!" Corrin yelled, drawing her sword and raising it to Azura. She took a few steps back. Everyone watched Corrin, too afraid to move. Camilla was crying, not trying to hide it at all. Hinoka was crying as well but trying to hide it.

"Corrin, sweetheart." Camilla choked as she reached for her sister. Leo grabbed Elise and shielded her from the sight. He burned hid head in her hair, not wanting to see it himself. Hinoka stool frozen, eyes locked on the sister she loved and lost. Sakura covered her eyes and hid her face in Hinoka's chest.

"No, I'm not going to let this happen." Corrin said to everyone and no one. "My real mother is dead. Killed by the sword your father gave me." She pointed her sword at Xander. "It exploded and killed her. It was intended to kill me but she allowed it to take her life instead. My life isn't worth the lives of your armies." Corrin called to both families. She raised the Yato above her chest and leaned her head toward the sky.

"No!" Hinoka screamed as she ran to Corrin, pushing Sakura to the ground, and wrapped her in a hug She didn't want to loose her sister, not again. She couldn't let that happen. Tears fell from her face and she didn't care. She couldn't loose Corrin again.

"Get off!" Corrin pushed Hinoka away and she fell to the ground, too shocked to move. Corrin looked at her family once more before plunging the Yato into her heart. Her arms fell to her sides as she fell to her knees. Silence rang out through the battlefield as rain began to fall, mixing with everyone's tears.


	2. Hinoka

"Corrin!" Hinoka screamed. Roma had never heard her scream in such pain before. Hinoka crawled to Corrin, her body still as the cold rain began to washed away her blood. Hinoka ripped the Yato out of Corrin's body and threw it down. She hated that sword, the sword that was supposed to save the world. How could it save the world if it took away hers? She sat Corrin up and child her in her arms.

"Hinoka-" Takumi said calmly. He was not as grief stricken as his brother and sisters.

"W-withdraw the troops." Xander said to his army.. His voice faltering a bit. His troops looked at him in confusion. "I saw withdraw!" He yelled at them. They did as ordered.

"My dear sweet Corrin." Camilla whispered. She walked over to Hinoka, who was still sobbing while holding onto her sister. She gentle ran her fingers through Corrin's hair one last time and caressed her soft, tear stained face.

"Come, Camilla. We must return home." Xander said to her. "Prince Ryoma of Hoshido, today we will not fight in honor or Corrin." He called to Ryoma.

"Agreed." Ryoma said. "Come, Hinoka." He walked over to his sister. She glanced at him. Her hands and shirt were stained red with blood. Ryoma gently took her hand and dragged her away.

"C-Corrin." Hinoka whispered as she continued to cry.

"B-big sister." Sakura said she took Hinoka's other hand. Takumi didn't say a word. His logical mind didn't know how to process what just happened.

"R-Ryoma." Hinoka sobbed.

"It's okay to cry, Hinoka." Ryoma said, trying not to cry himself. The sweet girl who he once played with and called his sister was gone.

"A-Azura, there y-you are." Sakura said as Azura appeared at her side.

"Yes, I'm here." Azura said in a sad whisper. They walked to the castle in silence.

"Come on guys. It's just like our life a matter of days ago before Corrin ever came into our minds again." Takumi said with a shrug as the castle came into view. The sun was beginning to set behind it.

"Shut up, Takumi!" Hinoka yelled as she slapped Takumi. "My sister is dead. You may have given up on finding her and having her return to us, but I never did. I never gave up on the dream that she'd come running up the castle steps and joint our family once again!" She looked at her brother and then at her other siblings and Azura and ran to the castle without stopping. She paused at the steps and then quickly ran up them and into her room, locking the door behind her. The silence was deafening, painfully deafening. Hinoka walked over to a chest and pulled out a small kimono. The fabric felt different in her hands, it was then that she realized her hands and shirt were coated in blood. She gasped as she dropped the kimono and sat down on her bed. "Of all the things to do, Corrin, why did you have to do this? Why did you have to choose this path? I would rather you have betrayed Hoshido and gone back to Nohr than this. As long as you were alive and safe I would have been happy." Hinoka cried. She hasn't stopped crying since Corrin died earlier that day.

"Hey, are you okay?" Setsuna asked from the window in Hinoka's room.

"Please leave." Hinoka said between sobs.

"But-"

"I said leave." Hinoka said sternly. She refused to look at her retainer.

"O-okay. I brought you some water." She set a pail of water in Hinoka's room for no real reason other than she could. After a moment of silence she left to find something to do.

"This isn't fair." Hinoka mumbled. "Why did it have to be you that died?" She walked over to the pail of water and scrubbed at the blood on her hands. It felt as though it would never come off.

"Hinoka, are you alright?" Ryoma asked as he knocked on the door. He attempted to open the door but it was locked.

"I'm fine." She said just loudly enough for him to hear.

"Will you open the door?" Hinoka sighed. She removed her hands from the water and walked to the door. She unlocked it and went back to her water. "Thank you." Ryoma said as he walked in. "I see you're cleaning up."

"I c-can't get her b-blood off my hands." Hinoka gasped.

"Let me see." He reached for Hinoka's hands.

"No, don't touch me!" Hinoka cried as she pulled away, knocking over the bucket of water in the process. Ryoma noticed her hands were clean.

"Hinoka, your hands are clean." He said softly. Hinoka looked at her hands with big eyes.

"No they're not. Are you blind? They are covered in her blood!"

"Physically or metaphorically?"

"It's our fault she's dead. We pushed her too much, we gave her an impossible choice, Ryoma. Now she's gone." Hinoka look at him, tears falling.

"I know, Hinoka. But we must be strong for Sakura and Takumi. I see you have the kimonos out." Ryoma changed the subject to the clothing on the floor.

"Y-yes. I remember Mother had given one to Corrin, Sakura, and me. We all matched. When I miss her, I get hers out, to remember the few years we had together."

"Hinoka, I lost Corrin too. I know my bond wasn't as strong as yours, but she was my sister too." Ryoma said, trying to move Hinoka's mind from grief to being the caring older sister.

"Excuse me, Hinoka?" Azura interrupted as she walked into the room.

"Y-yes, what is it?" Hinoka said quickly.

"I thought you may want this." Azura held out her hand to Hinoka. Hinoka held out her hand and Azura placed a small bead in her hand.

"T-thank you, Azura."

"What is it?" Ryoma asked.

"Corrin's dragon stone." Azura answered. "Excuse me, I have something I need to tend to." Azura quickly excused herself and left.

"You've got a part of her now." Ryoma smiled. Hinoka looked at the stone and felt a sort of connection to Corrin.

"I know." Hinoka smiled sadly, the first time she smiled all day.

"Are you going to be okay?" Ryoma asked after a moment of silence.

"Yeah, I think I will. It won't be easy, but I think I will. Thanks, Ryoma."


	3. Takumi and Sakura

"H-hey, Takumi, c-can I ask you something?" Sakura knocked on her brother's door. It was the middle of the night, but she just couldn't sleep.

"What is it?" He asked groggily. He had been asleep.

"M-may I come i-in?" She asked.

"The door is open." He sighed. Sakura pushed open the door and stepped in. Takumi look at his sister. The only source of light in his room was the girl holding the candle in one hand.

"I can't s-stop thinking a-about earlier." Sakura whispered.

"Sakura, it's not like Corrin remembered us." Takumi rolled his eyes.

"But she was still our sister." Sakura sniffed.

"You want to know why I'm not upset about this?" Sakura nodded. "I barely remember Corrin. We were too young to remember when she was kidnapped, she didn't even remember us. It doesn't bother me because I know to her, we were just a forgotten memory."

"T-that's not true."

"Yes it is. If she remembered us, she wouldn't have hesitated to join us. Sakura, if they took you and made you live there for years and told you that you were their sibling and suddenly you were reunited with us, who would you rather stay with? The family you haven't seen in years or the family you spent all of those years with?" Takumi looked at his sister. She looked so small and young.

"I-I don't know." She began to cry.

"Is everything alright?" Azura asked. She seemed to appear from nowhere.

"Azura!" Takumi yelled as he pulled his covers to his chest. "You can't just barge into a mans room like that!"

"There is a man in this room? A man would never make his sister cry." Azura glared at him.

"Grow up, Azura." Takumi spat.

"I should say the same to you. There is no reason to hurt Sakura like this."

"What do you want me to tell her? A lie about Corrin loving us?" He asked.

"It wasn't a lie. Yes, she didn't remember her past, but that doesn't mean she didn't love you all. The day I met her, she spoke of how she wanted to know you all better and how she loved all of you." Azura's words hung in the air.

"D-did she really say that?" Takumi asked.

"Yes, she did. I wouldn't lie about that." Azura mumbled.

"A-Azura, why did she d-do that to h-herself?" Sakura asked. Of course she would have questions.

"Sakura, I'm afraid I don't know the answer. Sometimes, when a person is under a lot of stress and are shocked and confused and hurt, they loose themselves and are unable to act like they normally would." Azura whispered. She didn't quite understand it herself, why someone would end their life in such a way.

"Do you think Corrin is watching us from wherever she is?" Takumi asked, dropping the spoilt brat attitude and adopting a gentle child one.

"I'm certain. She will always be in our hearts also." Sakura yawned. "Come, Sakura, it is time for you both to go to bed." Sakura nodded and headed to her own room.

"Hey, Azura." Takumi called.

"Yes?" She replied in her soft, sweet voice.

"Is all that stuff you said true? Did she really love us?"

"Of course."

"Thanks." Takumi smiled as he watched Azura leave.


	4. Ryoma

Ryoma watched the sun rise through a large window in the throne room. He had been up the whole night, he didn't want to dream of Corrin's death, of the pain in her eyes.

"Gods, if only I had stopped her or had done something." He said to himself as he ran his fingers through his long, brown hair, his helmet at his side. He sat next to the throne. "What kind of King could I be if I couldn't protect my own sister? Prince Ryoma, the man- no, I am no man. Prince Ryoma, the boy who allowed his little sister to witness her fathers death, allowed her to be taken by Nohr, and just watched as she plunged her own sword into her chest." Ryoma's voice was weak for once. He allowed his defenses to fall and be just Ryoma instead of Prince Ryoma. He closed his sore and tired eyes as he leaned his back on the side of the large throne.

"Ryoma, you are a man, and a fine one." Queen Mikoto appeared in front of him in a large glow of light.

"M-mother?" Ryoma whispered as he looked at his mother's face.

"Yes, Ryoma. It's me." Mikoto smiled sweetly.

"I'm sorry, Mother. I have failed. I did nothing to stop Corrin's death. Your beloved daughter who had only just returned to us has once again been taken away and it is all my fault." Ryoma felt too weak to stand and kneel before his mother.

"Ryoma, don't say that. It was not your fault when you were a child and it is not your fault now. Corrin did not want a war. She did not want people to die because of her. If you were in the same position, would you not have done the same?" Ryoma was silent.

"If I had been in Corrin's place, forced to choose between my birth family and the family that raised me, knowing the man I had known as my father had killed my real father in front of me and had given me the sword that would kill my mother and countless innocent people, I don't know what I would do. I don't think I would be in the correct frame of mind to make such a decision."

"Corrin was in the same position." Mikoto whispered.

"I should have done something. I should have tried to stop her somehow."

"Life is full of thing we should have done. There is nothing we can do to change that, we just have to continue to move forward. I want you to do something for me, my darling son."

"Anything, Mother."

"You will make a fine king someday. Don't let Corrin's sacrifice be in vain. Make it worth her sacrifice. This war doesn't have to continue. There are things that can be done to prevent the bloodshed Corrin didn't want." Mikoto's eyes seemed sad.

"Yes, Mother. I will do my best." Ryoma nodded his head. There was a moment of silence. "Mother?" Ryoma called. The light was still shining behind his closed eyes. He opened his eyes to find rays of the sun shining in from the window onto his face. "It was all a dream?" He mumbled to himself as he finally stood up and composed himself.


	5. Azura

"Corrin, don't do this." Azura's words to Corrin replayed over and over in her head as she walked through the dark halls of the castle. The night had been long for everyone, and she knew others were suffering more than her. She had to be strong for the Hoshido family, for Takumi, who didn't fully understand his sister and for Sakura, who never got to know the girl.

"Get back!" Azura heard Corrin yell. She jumped as she spun around, expecting to see the girl behind her, but no, it was just the voice in her head again. She quickened her pace as she walked out of the castle. She caught a glimpse of Ryoma pacing in the throne room. They didn't acknowledge each other. Once her feet felt the steps of the castle, she ran as fast as her legs would allow. She refused to stop until she reached the small body of water, the place where she first saw Corrin.

"Er, hello. I'm sorry to bother you. I just got lost in your singing." Azura heard Corrin's voice again as she stood at the end of the dock.

"You must be Princess Corrin." Azura remembered saying. At the time, she wasn't thrilled with seeing Corrin. She felt a bit jealous, like the love she received in Hoshido would now be given to Corrin and she would face the same terrible fate she faced in Nohr before she was taken. Now she regretted her awful attitude, even if it only lasted a moment. Azura felt tears forming. She didn't want to cry, she hated showing weakness. She preferred to seem cold and distant, everyone whom she ever tried to love turned against her, except Queen Mikoto, who was gone now. Azura wasn't cold, she was a warm and loving person, she often wondered what Corrin was like, if she looked like Queen Mikoto and if they would get along if she did come back.

"Gods, I'm so sorry." Corrin had said. Genuine sympathy. She felt terrible that Azura had been taken from her home. Corrin was the one who had received the bad deal, a life of solitude in a cold and cruel place while she was living in warm and loving Hoshido.

"No, it's okay." She told Corrin that day. "It's okay." She whispered. She wasn't sure if she was saying it to herself or to Corrin's spirit. Azura couldn't take it. She took a few steps away from the edge of the pier and ran off the edge, jumping as far as she could into the water. The cold water sent a shiver up her spine as it quickly covered her head. She continued to fall deeper into the water, she stood at the bottom, her head a mere two or three feet away from oxygen. Azura screamed as loud and as long as she could. In the water, no one could hear her scream. They couldn't hear her pain and they couldn't see her tears. They couldn't see the don't cold princess break over someone she barely knew. Once she ran out of breath in her lungs she punched herself upward, filled her lungs with air, went back down, and continued to scream. She did this many times until her lungs and throat ached and she couldn't scream anymore. She slowly went to the edge of the water and pulled herself up onto the dock. She sat on its edge and let her feet dangle in the water. She felt the weight of her pendent on her chest. It added to the weight of her guilt. She should have tried to stop Corrin, she shouldn't have just stood there like the useless fool she was.

"Do you think that you could start over there?" Corrin has asked her. Azura has been surprised at how ready Corrin was to spill her heart out to anyone who would listen. Maybe it was her life of loneliness in Nohr, or maybe Corrin was just a sweet girl who saw the good in everyone.

"Even a useless princess like me." Azura whispered, her voice just a bit hoarse from screaming.

"Something about that song captivated me."

"Everyone loves my song, but it meant more when you said it. The curiosity in your eyes, the awe in your voice, and the silent hope that you and I would be friends." Azura whispered to nothing as she pretended she was talking to Corrin. "When it comes down to it, Ryoma, Sakura, Takumi, and Hinoka have each other to help them through this. I have no one. Maybe if things turned out differently, I'd have you." Azura smiled as she stood up. A gust of wind sent another chill through her soaked body.

"For now, I'm just going to spend some time thinking." Azura remembered the dedication Corrin had to her problems, how she wanted someone to be there, but didn't really need someone there.

"I think I'll do the same." Azura whispered. She gripped her pendent as she tried not to cry again.


	6. Xander

Xander paced his room. Had it really been a week since Corrin died?

"It doesn't feel real." Xander said to himself.

"What?" Laslow asked, revealing himself from the shadows of Xander's room.

"Out! Now!" Xander's voice boomed in anger. Laslow quickly left the room. As he was leaving, Xander yelled again. "Can you not understand I only want peace!" He felt tears form in his eyes but he quickly brushed them off. He was the next in line for the throne, he couldn't act like a shy child anymore.

"We all want that, Xander." He heard cold voice say. It was Leo. He hadn't reacted to Corrin's death at all.

"Tell me, brother, how have you managed to keep yourself composed?" Xander asked, his fists balled at his sides as he sat at his desk. Leo walked into the room and sat on the chair beside the desk.

"I could not do anything to prevent what happened. I am saddened, devastated by Corrin's death. I truly am, but I know that there was nothing we could do to stop her, she raised her blade to that blue haired girl and she pushed the Hoshidan girl down on the ground. She didn't want us to interfere."

"She didn't want to die, Leo!" Xander yelled. He was loosing his composure again, but he didn't care.

"Then what did she want?"

"Not that."

"What did she want then?"

"Peace." A female voice said. Both boys turned to the door to fine Elise, tears still staining her face. "She didn't want us to fight with the Hoshidans. She didn't want us to hurt one another." Elise walked in the room in a gloomy state.

"Peace?" Leo asked, wrinkling his nose.

"Don't you get it? She did that because she wanted us to stop fighting, she wanted there to be peace between the two kingdoms. She didn't want anyone to get hurt or killed." There was silence as the two boys looked at their hands, not wanting to look at anyone.

"Look at this." Xander smiled a bit as he opened a desk drawer and pulled out a stack of papers. Each page had a drawing of some sort. "When we were children, Corrin used to draw me pictures. Pictures of things she wanted to see, wanted to do. I kept every single one, hoping to make it come true." Elise slid a paper from the bottom of the stack.

"What is this one?" She asked.

"That was the first one she drew. It's of her family in Hoshido. She didn't draw them often after that. She drew her older sister a lot, but as she grew up and forgot, she didn't call her by name, she just called her a girl. Soon, they were replaced with us." Xander pulled out another piece of paper from the stack. "Here's one of Corrin and Camilla." There was a pause. "How is she holding up?" Elise became even sadder. "I see." Xander mumbled.

"There's something we have to do, Xander." Leo said, looking at a drawing of both the Hoshido and Nohr families together.

"I know, but Father won't allow it."

"There has to be something we can do." Elise whined.

"We will figure something out, even if it costs us our lives. Xander slammed his fist on the desk.

"Young Lord, the king has requested your presence." Iago said suddenly, causing the three sibling to jump. "How much of that did he hear?" Xander asked himself. He felt a cold chill run up his spine. Plotting against his father would not only jeopardize his position for the throne, but it could very well cost him his life.

"I'll be there soon, Iago, thank you." Iago left the room with a smile nod and a knowing smirk on his face.

"The King will not be pleased." He whispered.

"You will tell him nothing." Leo yelled suddenly. He had heard Iago.

"Excuse me, Lord Leo?" He said innocently.

"You will tell my father nothing. If you tell anyone or anything, you will loose your life slowly and painfully." Leo's cold voice was filled with acid.

"You wouldn't dare." Leo pulled a tome from under his cloak.

"Do you really wish to test me, Iago?" His eyes were stone cold and ready to kill.

"No, Lord Leo." Iago sighed defeatedly.

"Good. Now go play parrot and report my brothers arrival to my father, Iago."

"Yes, Lord Leo. Thank you for sparing my life."

"It won't happen again. Next time I will not hesitate to take your life."

"Yes, Lord Leo." Iago said before leaving to tell the king of Xander's arrival. Leo Wales back into the room and threw the book on Xander's desk.

"Iago is a fool!" He laughed. "He doesn't know a tome from a dictionary." Xander began to laugh, the first time he felt a bit of happiness since before Corrin's death.


	7. Leo

Leo left his brother's room and walked to his own in silence. He waited a few minutes and predicted his brother was already in the throne room with their father. He carefully made his way down to the throne room and stood outside the door, hoping to hear what their father would say.

"Xander, Corrin is truly dead?" Leo flinched.

"Y-yes, Father." Xander had replied.

"Very good." Leo was shocked, how could his father be pleased at Corrin's death?

"Father, the Hoshidan children are crushed at the loss of their sibling."

"You have a plan." The king smiled proudly. "Good, son. Tell me about your plans to crush Hoshido."

"Well, Father, we must first go to their Kingdom and propose a peace treaty."

"What?" The king yelled.

"Leo, Camilla, Elise and I will go. You will remain here incase they turn on their treaty and attack. We build our trust with them and when they least expect it, we crush them." Xander said. Leo wasn't sure if Xander was being serious or if it was all just a way to fool their father.

"How long do you plan to make this treaty last?" Iago asked, smirking.

"A few years. We will need to build their trust, convince them that they do not need an army. After that, we strike and take over."

"You are the best son a king could ask for. I am glad I didn't have you killed." The old man smiled.

"Thank-you, Father." Xander bowed.

"You may leave."

"Yes, Father." When Xander left, Leo followed him several feet down the hall.

"You didn't mean any of that, right?" Leo whispered.

"We will create a peace treaty, the years it will take to format trust will take longer than Father will live. The peace treaty will remain for all of time because when I become king, the treaty will remain unbroken." Xander replied bluntly. "Excuse me, Leo." He mumbled before walking to his room and closing the door. Leo once again walked to his own room. He sat on the bed in silence.

"I can't believe Corrin is dead." He whispered to himself. He felt his eyes begin to burn as tears formed. "The damn spell is wearing off." He thought. He walked to his shelf of tomes and reached for one of the books. "It doesn't matter, I can't keep hiding my feeling like this." He said to himself, voice shaking. He had spent the last week hiding his feelings behind a tome. He walked back to his bed and lay down. He allowed himself to cry. "I shouldn't cry, I'm a prince. I need to be strong for my sisters and Xander." He scolded himself, but he continued to silently cry.

"Even a prince has to cry sometimes." Corrin once told him when they were young. Baby Elise had ripped the pages out of his favorite book and he had been holding back his tears.

"No they don't!" He shouted at her. Xander and Camilla had come to the rescue when Corrin started crying. After a moment, she spoke again.

"See? I'm a princess and I cry, so that means you can cry too." She smiled as she wiped here eyes. Leo cried harder, remembering how Corrin always wanted him to show his feelings.

"Why do you have to be right?" Leo mumbled. He looked around his room, at all the books. They meant nothing. His magic was strong, but not strong enough to bring her back. If his magic couldn't bring her back, than what good was it? His magic couldn't rerun Camilla to herself or anything.

"H-hey Leo?" Corrin had once asked him when they were young.

"What is it?" He had asked, looking up from a book.

"Father h-he killed" Corrin grew silent.

"Who did he kill?" Leo asked alarmed, it wasn't like their father at all.

"Silus, he killed my friend Silus." She sobbed.

"We all go sometime." Leo shrugged.

"W-what?" She asked, crying harder. Despite her age, no one had explained death to her, but she had spent years in isolation

"Yeah, everyone dies at some point."

"Even Xander?"

"Yep."

And me?"

"Yes."

"And Camilla?"

"At some point, yes."

"But she can't die, she's my sister!" Corrin cried. The young Camilla had then popped her head in the door, unknown to the two younger children.

"We call die, Corrin." He said agitatedly.

"Can't you stop it with magic?"

"No, magic doesn't work like that."

"That's enough, Leo." Camilla scolded, bursting into the room with her hand tightly around Xander's wrist.

"Ow, Camilla, that hurts!" Xander had complained.

"Fix this." She said to him in a bossy, childish way.

"Camilla, I don't want to! I need to train!"

"Now, Xander!"

"Camilla!" Corrin had yelled as she ran to Camilla's arms. Leo never understood why she was so close to Camilla.

"It's okay." Camilla smiled as she awkwardly picked up the smaller child. She wasn't much older than Corrin, but old enough to try to be a motherly figure.

"Am I goanna die before you guys?" Corrin asked. Xander paused.

"Technically speaking, you will die after Xander and Camilla, but before me and Baby Elise." Leo said bluntly.

"That's enough!" Xander smacked the younger boy. Leo smiled at that thought, before Xander had become shy but after he had taken on a father figure role.s

"If I die before you, I don't want you to be sad." Corrin said, trying to dry her tears. "I want you to be happy and maybe when we're all spirits like in the stories we'll all get to play together."

"Why did you have to say that all those years ago?" Leo asked no one. "How can we be happy if you're not here?"

"Leo, have you heard from Camilla?" Elise's voice asked from the other side of his bedroom door. Of course he hadn't. "No." He answered as he stood up, wiped off his eyes and walked to his book shelf. He took his tome out and once again dulled his feelings to be able to go out in public.


	8. Elise

"Okay, thanks, Leo." Elise sighed. She walked down the hall for a few minutes until she came upon Camilla's door. She knocked on it gently. "Camilla?" She asked. There was no response. "Are you okay?" Still no response. "Camilla! Please!" Elise began to pound on the door with all her might but Camilla never answered. Elise finally gave up, sinking to her knees and crying as hard as she could in front of Camilla's door. "I miss her too, ya know!" She yelled. "I miss her a lot!" She walked across the hall to her own room and grabbed an old rock she had kept because she thought it looked neat and chucked it out of her room and against Camilla's door. "Corrin is gone and now you are too!" Elise screamed one last time. She slammed her door as hard as she could and locked it. She threw herself on her bed and screamed into her pillow. She felt dejected, like Camilla didn't really care about anything anymore. After her fit, Elise stood up and walked to her window. The sun was beginning to set. She looked around her room and climbed out of the window, carefully making her way to the ground and running as quickly as her small legs would carry her.

"Hello!" A woman said to Elise as she entered the underground city. The area was dark and scary to some, but to Elise, it was a breath of fresh air and a home away from home. For a while, Elise just wandered around, she didn't care to do anything else. She found a handmade bench and sat for a while. She watched people as they went by.

"I wish I could be as happy as some of them. Stupid Camilla, if she'd just open her door we could help each other." She thought as fresh tears formed in her eyes. Elise had remembered the last time she called Camilla stupid.

"Stupid Camilla, she won't let me play with Corrin." Elise had grumbled to Leo.

"Corrin is sick. If you play with her, you'll only make her worse and make yourself sick." Leo said as he continued to practice his magic in the large, empty room they were in. Camilla was taking care of Corrin and Xander was preparing for his training.

"That's not true!" Elise pouted. After a moment, she came up with a plan. She bolted up to Corrin's room. "Camilla!" She yelled, fake tears forming in her eyes.

"Elise, what's wrong! Camilla asked. She had been sitting by Corrin's bed.

"It's Leo, he hurt himself! One of his spells went really wrong!" Elise fake sobbed.

"Oh my gods, Leo!" Camilla called as she pushed past Elise and ran to Leo's aid. Elise smiled at the memory. She had gotten into so much trouble for doing that. And Leo was right, she did get sick, but not as badly as Corrin had been. Elise frowned again.

"Do I miss Corrin more or do I miss Camilla more?" She asked herself. "I'll never get to see Corrin again, but at the same time, I feel like I'll never see Camilla again. How can Xander and Leo just ignore the fact that Corrin is gone? They manage it so well." Elise played with her hair, she was proud of her purple streaks because they matched Camilla's. "I miss Corrin a lot. I miss how she used to play with me and how she used to talk to me. I miss how she hugged me and the way simple things like flowers made her smile." Elise sighed. She hated being sad, but she couldn't help it. Corrin held the family together. Corrin kept Camilla happy, who kept Elsie happy, who kept Xander happy, who kept Leo happy. "What are we without Corrin? We're just a broken group of unwanted royals." She mumbled. As the number of people in the underground became less and less, Elise decided it was time to head back home before someone found out she was gone. As she headed home, she smelt a familiar scent, the smell of Camilla's perfume. She followed it to find it was only a vender selling some. She continued on her way home, getting to the castle just as the final rays of the sun had gone. She climbed into her bedroom window.

"Elise?" Xander was knocking on her door as she climbed in the window.

"Y-yes?" She called

"Are you okay?"

"I'm something." She shrugged, trying to keep a happy tone.

"Do you need anything?" She walked over to her door, unlocked it and opened it. "I need my stupid sister to unlock her stupid door!" She yelled to Camilla's door.

"Elise!" Xander said in a hushed hiss.

"I miss Corrin too, but I haven't locked myself in my room for the last week! I bet the Hoshido siblings haven't either!"

"Lower your voice!"

"No, Xander! I'm tired of this! I'm tired of our family being broken! I want my sister back and I want my other sister to stop being such a-" Elise was cut short by the click of a lock. The lock on Camilla's door.


	9. Camilla

"What kind of a sister am I?" Camilla had asked herself earlier that day while Elise was pounding on her door. She knew she had to get out of her room and be with her family, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She could barely bring herself to get out of her bed, bathe, and walk a few steps. Every movement hurt, her chest ached with every breath she took. The sight of Corrin's death had been haunting her in both her waking hours and her dreams. When she had returned home from Corrin's death, she ordered her retainers to leave her alone until she called for them and she went to her room and locked her door, and it had remained such since. "I'm so sorry, Elise." Camilla thought. She wanted to say something to her sister, but speaking had been too painful for her. She sat up in her bed. Everything hurt. She looked around her room, it didn't change. "The birds still sing, the sun still rises and falls, and the world still turns. Everything acts as though nothing has happened, but for them, nothing has happened. For me, I lost everything and I did nothing to stop it." Camilla felt tears falling from her face. When she was awake, she couldn't stop crying, she was sure she cried in her sleep too. Her thoughts flashed through all the memories she had of her beloved Corrin, like the day she came to live with them.

"Xander, Camilla, Leo, this is your new sibling." Their father has told them one day as he pushed a small blond child toward them. She was covered in blood splatter and her eyes had a distant, glassy look in them while tears streamed down her face.

"What is her name?" Xander asked.

"Corrin." Their father had said before leaving them with the girl.

"Hi, I Leo." Little Leo smiled at the older girl as he went to hug her. She took a step back and squeaked in fear.

"I'm Camilla. I'm your big sister." Camilla smiled sweetly at the girl.

"I w-want H-Hinoka." Corrin sobbed.

"Hinoka?" Xander asked.

"M-my b-big sister."

"Don't worry, sweetheart. Hinoka told me to take care of you until she can come get you." Camilla lied.

"Really?" Corrin's tears slowed.

"Really. Here, take my hand and we'll get you cleaned up." Camilla held out her small hand for Corrin's even smaller one. From that moment on, Camilla had taken care of Corrin as best as she could. She refused to let anyone make Corrin so sad again. She would do anything for that sad little girl. Camilla cried harder. She held onto her sides in a hug as tightly as she could as she bent over. Her heart hurt so much.

"I miss her too, ya know!" Elise screamed. Camilla flinched.

"This life isn't worth living, not without Corrin." Camilla forced herself to stand.

"Big sister!" Corrin used to grin whenever Camilla came to visit her. Her voice haunted Camilla.

"C-Corrin, please forgive me." Camilla thought to herself. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

"H-hey, Lady Camilla?" Selena called as she knocked on the door. Camilla instantly became furious.

"What do you want? Are you too incompetent to follow a simple command?" Camilla suddenly yelled, her sadness fueling her rage.

"I'm sorry, Lady Camilla. I will leave."

"Prepare my weapon and bring it to me at dark." Camilla growled.

"Y-yes, Lady Camilla." Camilla collapsed back onto her bed. Her anger made her body feel hot, she couldn't control her anger.

"Why did you have to leave?" Camilla yelled in her head. "Why did you have to leave like that?" Camilla closed her eyes tightly and soon fell asleep.

"Corrin, stop!" Xander yelled. They were back at the place where Corrin died, each time she dreamt about it, it played out differently.

"No, this we will end!" Corrin screamed. She raised her sword and tilted her head back.

"Stop, Corrin!" Camilla ran between Corrin and the sword. Before Corrin could stop, the sword had gone though Camilla's heart.

"C-Camilla!" Corrin screamed, tears streaming down her face.

"Big sister!" Elise yelled.

"C-Corrin, please, d-don't do this. R-run away if y-you must. Just please d-not die." Camilla choked out.

"I-I won't. I p-promise." Corrin sobbed.

"T-thank you d-darling." Camilla woke up in tears to Elise screaming again. She stood up.

"I want my other sister to stop being such a-" Camilla undid the lock on her door. Elise stopped. Camilla threw the door open. Her strength caused the door to come off its hinges a bit.

"Camilla!" Xander smiled at her. His smile was full of her concern. Camilla's rage burned as her tears continued to fall and her heart continued to hurt.

"Here is your weapon, Lady Camilla." Selena said bravely as she handed Camilla her favorite axe.

"Thank you my love." Camilla replied. Her voice was full of poison.

"Camilla-" Elise began

"Shut up." Camilla slapped Elise.

"Camilla!" Xander yelled. He grabbed her arms.

"Let go of me!" She yelled.

"Not until you calm down! You're too unstable!" Xander yelled as he tightened his grip. "If only Corrin were here, just her presence kept Camilla under control. Xander knew his sister wasn't stable, and that her obsession with Corrin was the only thing that kept her from going over the edge.

"I said to release me!" Camilla tried to swing her axe. She cut Xander's cheek, causing him to let go in surprise.

"What is all the commotion?" Iago asked, rearing his ugly head. "Ah, Lady Camilla, I see you are out and about. Your father is very pleased to hear of Corrin's death."

"Iago!" Xander yelled, his hand on his bleeding cheek.

"What?" Camilla yelled, her rage burning even more.

"Yes, the missions he sent her on to kill her were a failure, so he is pleased that she is finally gone."

"Where is Father?" Camilla gritted her teeth. This was the finial straw for her.

"In the throne room, of course."

"Camilla, don't!" Xander yelled. Blood was beginning to seep through his hand. "Elise, I need your help."

"Y-yes big b-brother." Elise sobbed as she got her staff. "She's gone. She's not going to comeback to us." She cried as she watched Camilla leave, axe gripped tightly in her hands as she allowed the blade to scrape the hall walls.

"You will not get away with this, Father." Camilla laughed. "You hurt my Corrin, you tried to have her killed and you praise her death. I will kill you with my own hands and bathe in your black blood. If you have one, I will display your small, black heart and your head." She grinned a sadistic grin.

"Where is that fool Iago?" Garon yelled. Camilla could hear him from beyond the doors of the throne room.

"Father! At last, I have found you!" Camilla grinned.

"I see you are out of your room. Since you have had a hard time lately, I will allow this childish interruption just this once." Garon smiled irritatedly.

"You are pleased at Corrin's death. Is this true?"

"Corrin was merely a pawn. She is as replaceable as you, Leo, and Elise."

"I will have your head!" Camilla screamed before Garon could react. He never suspected Camilla of such behavior, but he had never spent any time with her to know how unstable she was. Camilla swung her axe, slitting Garon's throat. The guards began to attack her, but she was able to bring every one of them down. Her insanity only fueled her desire to kill. Without Corrin, there was nothing left for her but killing. She ran from the castle with Xander close behind her.

"Stop, Camilla!" He yelled.

"Goodbye, Xander." Camilla smiled at him.

"Don't do this. If you leave the grounds, you'll be murdered. Please, I can help you."

"There is nothing left for me. Corrin was all I had, the only person that loved me as much as I loved her. She loved me more than anyone in my life. She loved me more than Mother or Father ever did and she wasn't even blood." Tears filled Camilla's eyes.

"Please, Camilla! Think logically!" Xander cried. He blinked back tears.

"Goodbye darling, I will say hello to Corrin for you." She began to walk towards the gate where soldiers were waiting for her. They would have already attacked her had she not been so close to Xander. "Please, don't forget Corrin, and don't forget me. Watch over our siblings and my lovely retainers." Camilla whispered as she turned to look at her brother one last time, someone whom she loved, but was too distant to her. Xander only saw her a sister, Corrin saw her as a sister and as a friend. Corrin had been the only friend Camilla had in the world. "I'm coming to see you, Corrin!" Camilla shouted as loud as she could as she ran out of the gates. Xander watched as her body was shot with arrows and stabbed with swords. He allowed his tears to fall.

"Goodbye, little princesses." He sobbed as he fell to his knees.


	10. Lilith

Lilith sighed. The astral plane she was in was quiet and empty. She left the shrine and flew quietly around the empty grounds. "Father, I'm sorry. I failed you. I was unable to protect….. My sister." Sister. The words brought pain to the small dragon's heart. She never got to tell her sister, the only blood Corrin had in the world besides Azura, that she was her sister. She promised their father to not tell her about him, but if it had saved the girl's life, she would have.

"Look, Big Sister! I found a baby bird!" Lilith remembered hearing Corrin say as she and Camilla has gone into the stables.

"Leave it alone, sweetheart. It may be ill and make you ill also." Camilla had cooed. Corrin had been so young, it was maybe her first or second spring in the Nohrian castle.

"But we have to try to help it! Big Sister Hinoka always said that you don't don't get nowhere without trying." Lilith felt her tired body being picked up by tiny hands.

"Anywhere." Camilla corrected.

" _You must be my little sister."_ Lilith smiled as she felt safe in her little sister's hands.

"Alright, but don't be upset if the bird doesn't make it." Camilla sighed. Lilith felt tears forming in her eyes. She was stuck in her dragon form now. She'd never be able to return to the castle as the stable girl she once was. She was stuck in the astral plane, not that she cared about seeing the world anyway, there was no point if she couldn't see it with her sister.

"You're a pretty bird." Corrin has smiled. Her front right tooth was missing.

" _You lost your first tooth!_ " Lilith beamed.

"Look, Big Sister! She's moving around better than yesterday!" Corrin had called to Camilla. Camilla was always by her side when she could be.

"Yes, dear. How do you teeth look today?" Lilith felt jealousy toward Camilla. Corrin was her real sister, not Camilla's, she should be the one holding and hugging and taking care of her. She should be the one who was asking about her teeth. Even though she felt jealous, she was happy someone was taking care of her baby sister, the sister she didn't know she had until her father's death, when he died in her arms.

"I wished that one day, I could reveal the truth to you. Not everything, just the knowledge that I am your sister." Lilith caught herself thinking when she saw the girl. When she was strong enough to regain her human form, she watched her little sister grow up from the stables. When she was allowed to, Corrin would often visit Lilith at the stables and just talk to her.

"You're like an old friend, Lilith!" Corrin smiled from a bale of hay she had been sitting on.

"Thank you, Lady Corrin." Lilith smiled.

"Do you miss you family?" The twelve year old had asked.

"Yes, especially my father." Lilith looked at her sister. "You look like him." She thought.

"I miss my big brother, Ryoma and my big sister, Hinoka. I miss Hinoka a lot." Corrin grew sad. She often spoke of the family she was taken of. She never gave up the hope that they would come for her.

"You have Prince Xander and Princess Camilla." Lilith smiled.

"But I miss my real big brother and sister. I love Ryoma and Camilla, but I miss my mom and dad Ryoma and Hinoka. I can feel my memories of them fading, day by day. I know I had a baby brother, but I don't remember his name or what he looked like. The same with the baby sister I had. I can barely remember Mother's voice or Father's face. Even though I can't remember much of them, I still miss them." That was the last Lilith ever heard of Corrin's family in Hoshido. She would ask about her family to her Nohrian siblings, but only for a few more weeks.

"Hello, Lilith, is it?" Prince Xander asked as he entered the stables one day.

"Yes, Prince Xander."

"Princess Corrin requests your presence."

"Me?"

"Yes, she…. She may not have much time left." Xander sighed. Lilith remember how sick Corrin had become. She spent a lot of time sleeping, and when she was awake, she didn't know who or where she was. Camilla was the only person more heartbroken than Lilith. One of the maids from the ice tribe saved Corrin's life by taking away the fever, but it didn't stop Corrin from loosing all of her early memories of her life in Hoshido. She no longer spoke of an older sister named Hinoka, or a baby brother or a mother. The only father she referred to was King Garon.

"I wish I had told you about your family, our real family." Lilith snapped herself out of the past as she continued to float through the air. She stopped at the throne, the throne her sister had sat on only a few times before going into her final battle. She looked so small but so grown up, and now she was gone. "Maybe you are out there somewhere, in a new body, a reincarnation of sorts. Maybe you'll return here someday and I can tell you about your family." Lilith said to nothing.


End file.
